


The Darkness of a Dream

by summerbutterfly



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Mild Language, Mindfuck, Minor Violence, Other, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2013-07-04
Packaged: 2017-12-17 17:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/870096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerbutterfly/pseuds/summerbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All he wanted to do was save her and go back to the way things were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Darkness of a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Written for wk_reverse_fest. Huge hugs to Crescentium for the beta, and my prompter for indulging my Ran/Schu tendencies :).

I am fighting in the White Room. I can't see the faces of my enemies, but I can see their shadows. Sometimes, there is a voice. And sometimes there is a touch. I never know what will happen. But when I fight in the White Room, the blood is brilliant crimson and it makes strange patterns on the ground.

I am fighting in the White Room...

"Aya." 

I startle awake. There is a moment where I'm disoriented enough to panic and someone grabs my arm.

"Aya. It's me. It's Omi."

I have to blink a few times before he comes into focus. Yet even when I rub my eyes, his face is still blurred. He told me once that Yohji has often mistaken him for a girl and right now I can see why. In a halo of morning sunlight, he looks ethereal, his dark hair almost red. 

"Omi," I murmur. "What time is it? Am I late?"

"No. It's 6 a.m. I got up to get ready for school and heard you talking in your sleep. Is everything all right?" 

Already the dream of the white room is fading. "Everything's fine."

"Okay, well. I'm leaving. Ken should be up soon. It's his turn to cook breakfast. I started the coffee." 

"Thank you." 

"No problem."

I turn over, pulling the sheets back up over my bare shoulders. I hear Omi rise from the foot of the bed and the door snick closed as he leaves. I still feel foggy. Foggier than I should after waking so suddenly. My eyes drift closed...and without warning she's there, beautiful, alive and real. 

My heart leaps.

"Aya..."

"Ran-nii." 

She smiles and it's like the sun, warm and brilliant. She's so alive it hurts me, and I reach toward her. 

"Aya," I breathe.

She shakes her head and steps back. I frown and move closer. She remains out of reach, dancing away as my fingertips stretch. 

I feel myself grow frustrated. "I'm just trying to help," I tell her. "I'm just trying to help you, can't you understand?"

Her smile fades. Suddenly, she's crying and her tears are red. They splash against the white floor, splash against my boots and I'm sinking to my knees in a desperate attempt to stop the flow of blood. Down her face. Down her dress.

"Aya, I'm sorry," I whisper.

My plea is heard by no one.

*~*~*~*~*

The doctor is a man in his late 20's with wire-rimmed glasses and thick, dark hair. He speaks Japanese like a foreigner.

"There is no change in Miss Fujimiya's condition," he says, "but you are welcome to go in if you'd like."

I nod and walk by him, our arms brushing as we pass. He feels slightly insubstantial, but I don't think about it because Aya is in there and that's truly what I care about. 

"Oh. It's you." The nurse in charge of my sister's care rises from the bed. He is always here when I come, hair tucked back in a red bandana, and yet I still don't know his name. "Good afternoon, Mr. Fujimiya."

"Good afternoon."

The nurse smiles. He comes to my side, putting a familiar hand on my shoulder, twisting a stray lock of hair around his finger. "She's spunky today," he tells me. "Twitched twice when I was taking her vitals. She must have known you were coming, eh?" 

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. Perhaps he's trying to be kind, but he must know how it pains me to hear things like that. Especially since it was he who told me not to put too much stock in any involuntary movement. 

"Yes, yes, I know," he purrs. "It's not much, but isn't it better to believe in something than to believe in nothing at all?"

It's strange how much sense that makes. I flex my fingers. 

The nurse's lips brush my cheek. "Have a good visit," he whispers. "See you soon." 

He glides from the room like some sort of ghost.

I look back at the girl on the bed.

She looks the same. Angelic, ageless. Her dark hair has been brushed and lovingly braided into two neat plaits, pink ribbons dangling from the ends. There's a hint of color on her pale cheeks, and a touch reveals an actual flush, not make up.

"Are you happy to see me, Aya?" I try not to think of the Aya in my dream. The one that cried tears of blood. "Are you warm enough?" 

I pull the chair closer to the edge of the bed. She remains a porcelain statue, immobile, unchanged. "We got chrysanthemums in today," I continue. "Red and orange ones. I'm going to bring some once they're inventoried."

I imagine she smiles. I imagine she is thrilled at the prospect of something to break up the monotony of the room. I imagine her delight when I arrive tomorrow.

"I hope you wake soon," I say. "There's so much I want to tell you. I miss you, Aya."

*~*~*~*~*

Yohji is next to wake me from the nightmare. The one where I'm being pierced over and over again by the weapons of my teammates.

"No!" 

I grab him and throw him down, pinning my knee against his chest. Yohji knows better than to struggle, and before I can get a grip on his throat, Ken and Omi rush in the room and pull me off. It's another few moments before I realize and stop fighting.

I am wearing nothing and I am unharmed.

"Yeah, I am so done with this." Yohji rubs the sore spot on his ribs. "Birman needs to have her head examined if she really thinks this is going to work out."

"Funny, I remember you being quite a handful when you first got here, too," Omi retorts. "And we didn't kick _you_ out."

"I had more than just righteous indignation on my resume," Yohji counters. "You _needed me_ , kid."

"You are replaceable, Kudoh. Just like everyone else."

Omi's tone is cold, a stark reminder of his position in our ranks. 

Yohji leaves without a word. 

*~*~*~*~*

"You're more melancholy than usual today, Mr. Fujimiya." The nurse strips the bed, balling up Aya's dirty sheets and tossing them into the pile by the door. "Rough day at the office?"

"I don't...." I realize it's a figure of speech and change tracts. "No. I just...Nightmares. I'm not sleeping well." 

"Ahhh." The nurse gives me a look of sympathy. "Poor Ran-sama. Should I give you something? I have plenty of ways to make nightmares go away." 

We are not close enough to be on a first name basis. Nor are we close enough for that type of proposition. I should be more concerned than I am, but Aya is waiting, and I can't get to her unless he takes me. 

"No, thank you," I say. I avoid eye contact and stare at the floor. "May I see my sister now?"

"Of course, of course. Just give me a moment to clean up." 

The nurse strips off his gloves. He goes to the sink and washes his hands, and then he joins me, beckoning me to follow. 

I do so without hesitation. 

We head down the hall until we reach the ICU. He unlocks the door, and leads me to Aya's temporary bed. Her hair is down today, held back off her face by a soft, white band.

"Aya." 

I reach toward her. So does the nurse, only he doesn't touch her, he touches me, fingers wrapping around mine. 

"She waits," he whispers. "She waits ever so patiently for you every day." 

I swallow past the lump in my throat.

"I think it's going to be soon," the nurse continues. "Very soon. Just be patient for a little bit longer." 

I cast him a desperate glance. He returns with an enigmatic smile and then it's like he literally fades away. His hand is no longer on my own. His warm breath no longer against my cheek. It is me and it is Aya and the low drone of the life support machine.

I sink to my knees. 

*~*~*~*~*

The target detonates another bomb. Debris rains down.

Ken curses. 

"What are we doing?" I demand.

"We're failing if we don't get it together," Ken wipes the blood from his forearm. "Shit. Shit shit _shit_." 

"We can't fail," I say. 

"I know that." Ken looks at me, hard and serious. "But if both of us go, Omi's wide open. So you finish the job. I'll take care of things here." 

"You can't engage ..."

Another explosive goes off, swallowing my words. It shoves Ken into me and me into the wall, and the impact is enough to jar my sword arm, but not enough to make me drop my blade.  
Ken grunts, and something else hits him and he falls to his knees.

"Shit," he says again. "Now you _have_ to go."

"But..." 

"Finish the mission. Get the hell out of here, Aya. Now!"

I grit my teeth. 

I step out from behind the wall. Shrapnel slices my cheek and I can hear screaming. Ken crawls to the shelter of an overhang and I look up the length of the alley. There is a direct line to the target. A narrow passage that would bring me in right on his blind side. I hesitate.

"Go!" Ken yells. "Go now!"

I run, straight for the man with the coat and the briefcase.

He looks too late.

My blade goes straight into his heart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I can't find her anywhere. I've looked in her room and all over the hospital, but there is no Aya.

I panic.

"Mr. Fujimiya?" 

The nurse appears and I grab onto the front of his coat. "Where is she?" I demand. "Where's my sister?"

He's looking at me like he doesn't know what I'm talking about and my heart ices over.

"Miss Fujimiya was released yesterday," he says. "Surely you knew that?"

"No." I shake my head. I close my eyes. "No. That's impossible. There's no one to take her but me. I am her guardian. _You know this._ "

"I'm only a nurse, Mr. Fujimiya." The man untangles my fingers. "I know only what I am told and no more."

"Bullshit," I say. "That's bullshit."

"Mr. Fujimiya, if you have a problem you'll need to take it up with the hospital administration, but again, I cannot help you here."

I clench my fists so hard my nails draw blood and stare the nurse down with unmitigated hatred.

*~*~*~*~*

We sit in silence. All four of us. I'm not sure if they are waiting for me to speak first or if they are searching for what to say. Their expressions are blank and hard to read. 

I am on my guard.

"I would tell you to start by apologizing, but that's not what they want to hear." A man appears out of the shadows. He looks familiar but I can't place him. "Do _you_ want to hear what they want to hear?" 

He saunters up behind me. His fingers card through my hair and I flinch at the touch. But my arms don't move to push him away.

The man laughs and meanders over to Omi. Omi doesn't seem to notice. "This one wants to know why," he tells me. He wraps his arms around Omi's shoulders from behind. "He wants to know why you almost threw the mission. What would make you contemplate betraying your team like you did." 

"I didn't...," I protest, but the man clicks his tongue. He gives Omi's cheek a light kiss and moves on to Yohji. 

"This one thinks you're pretty," he says, amused. "He's also filled with a delightful amount of self-loathing. More so than even you. I don't think he even noticed your little power play back there, but he values the kid's leadership. He's not going to contradict him, so sorry. No help here."

The man lifts Yohji's arm and lets go. Yohji's hand hits the table with a slap. 

I feel my jaw clench. 

"I'm not interested in power," I growl. "You don't know..."

"What I'm talking about? Oh, precious, I know far more than you give me credit for." The man comes up behind Ken, but doesn't touch him. "I know, for instance, that this one knows exactly what happened in that alley, but that he's not going to speak up for you. Because it's him or you and at this point, and he wouldn't be sad to see you go." 

I grit my teeth harder and look away. Ken and I have never been on stable ground when it comes to our working relationship, but it rankles to know he considers me expendable. 

It rankles even more hearing it from the mouth of a stranger.

"Stranger..." The man sounds genuinely surprised. "I'm no stranger, Ran-sama. We are old friends, you and I. Surely you remember."

My gaze snaps back, and I stare at the man, angry and indignant until I realize I'm not looking at a stranger in a green coat, I'm looking at the nurse from the hospital- the one who took care of Aya.

"What...?" I gasp and the man- the stranger, the nurse- just laughs and sits with his legs crossed in a fifth chair I'd never even noticed. 

"So surprised," he purrs. "Honestly, Ran. I expected better from you."

I have no retort. I have no thoughts in my mind save the numbing shock slowly working its way through my body. My limbs feel heavy and there is a buzzing sound in my ears. It's hard to breathe.

"Oh yes, that's good. That's _delightful_ , give me more of that." The man leans closer, eyes wide and eager. "Confusion, fear, anger and is that...guilt? Mmmm, yes. Guilt. One of my...favorites." 

I force myself to calm down. If I could squeeze my own heart to stop it from pumping I would. But since I can't, I breathe deep and try to bring my mind into focus.

The man won't stop smiling.

"Where's my sister?" I manage when I can speak again. I fix my eyes on him and force him to look at me. "What did you do to her?"

The man sighs. "Ran, seriously, if you continue to do nothing but obsess about Aya, you're in for a very sad life."

"Where is she?" I repeat. "Tell me!"

"You know damn well where she is, Ran. Think."

I open my mouth to retort, but without warning there is no one to retort to. In fact, there is nothing because I am in the white room.

I am in the white room. 

I scramble to my feet. The weight of my katana is heavy against my leg and the voices start whispering as I draw it from its sheath.

"Ran..."

I see her. I see Aya, her hands outstretched. Her palms are bloody. Her dress is bloody. There are wire-marks and claw marks on her wrist.

"Aya, no!" I cut a dart from the air as I reach for my sister. I'm not letting her get away this time. I _will_ reach her. I will do whatever it takes. "Aya, please. Grab my hand!"

My blade rises to protect me as my fingers stretch to touch. The white room is stained with red.

Just a little bit further and I'll have her...

The white room disappears. 

*~*~*~*~*

"How long?"

The doctor is a dark-haired man in his late 20's who speaks Japanese like a foreigner. "It's hard to say. Could be days, could be months. You say there was nothing that happened recently that could have caused this kind of psychotic break?"

Omi looks through the small window into Ran's cell. "No," he says. "Nothing recent. Plenty of past things, but...not anything since we've started working together. "

The doctor nods and scrawls a note on the clipboard. "I see. Well, I will call you when I have a diagnosis Mr...?"

"Tsukiyono. Omi Tsukiyono."

"Mr. Tsukiyono." The doctor extends his hand. "Dr. Crawford. Pleased to meet you."

*~*~*~*~*

I am fighting in the White Room. I can't see the faces of my enemies, but I can see their shadows. Sometimes, there is a voice. And sometimes there is a touch. I never really know what will happen.

I am fighting in the White Room.

The blood is brilliant crimson and it makes strange patterns on the ground.


End file.
